NSW premier promises a fare-free day on Sydney trains
Chris Minns said there would be a fare-free day on Sydney’s train network once industrial bargaining has been concluded.
Taking a question from reporters, he said the priority is to have “a regular, reliable service [so people] can get to and from work [when] the train is expected to be there”.
Part of it has been signal failures. There’s no doubt about it. I’m not blaming the union for that. I’m not blaming industrial action. It was a signal failure. We need to be very clear about when the system doesn’t work, people can’t get home …
We’ve put tens of millions of dollars into a maintenance program. We’re seeing less of it across the system, but it’s a huge pain, massive pain for commuters when it happens.
Key events
Those allegedly involved in caravan plot don’t meet threshold of hate speech laws – Minns
Chris Minns said the charges those allegedly associated with the Dural caravan plot are facing “are very serious” but don’t meet the threshold of hate speech laws:
Hate speech laws are serious and they’re ubiquitous in the community, and they need to be confronted. But they’re not the same as allegedly being involved in a plot to sow fear and be responsible for the destruction of property and burning down community facilities. I mean, it’s a different, it’s a different measure. These laws that we introduced are not at that seriousness level.
After a few more questions, the press conference wrapped up.
Minns says Sydney needs ‘way more, way more’ private development
Back at his press conference: Chris Minns says the houses at the proposed Rosehill development would be private, with “a mix of social housing put in there”.
That’s always [been] the idea … which is what Sydney needs. We need more private development in Sydney – way more, way more.
Minns went on to compare the cost of housing in Sydney to Melbourne:
[The] median house price in Sydney is $1.6m; the median house price in Melbourne is $1m. [The difference] between those two figures is the reason why we are considered a city without a future, because we won’t have young people [living here].
North-east Queensland town warned of flooding as river breaks banks
AAP has some more details about the flooding situation in north-east Queensland, as we flagged earlier:
The Lower Herbert River near Halifax rose past the major flood level of 5.5 metres this morning. Emergency services urged nearby residents to move their vehicles to higher ground as the river broke its banks.
For days, persistent showers and storms have been occurring across the Lower Herbert and Tropical Coast, with up to 200mm of rain recorded between Townsville and Innisfail each day.
Ingham, Cardwell and Townsville saw more than 200mm in the last 24 hours while 450mm was recorded at Cardwell Gap, leading to flash flooding.
Other towns like Trebonne recorded 348mm and flood-weary Ingham saw 267mm.
Today will be another rainy day for north-east Queensland with the risk of higher falls during the morning. The Bureau of Meteorology warned the intense downpours could continue into tomorrow, wherever thunderstorms arrive from the ocean.
NSW premier promises a fare-free day on Sydney trains
Chris Minns said there would be a fare-free day on Sydney’s train network once industrial bargaining has been concluded.
Taking a question from reporters, he said the priority is to have “a regular, reliable service [so people] can get to and from work [when] the train is expected to be there”.
Part of it has been signal failures. There’s no doubt about it. I’m not blaming the union for that. I’m not blaming industrial action. It was a signal failure. We need to be very clear about when the system doesn’t work, people can’t get home …
We’ve put tens of millions of dollars into a maintenance program. We’re seeing less of it across the system, but it’s a huge pain, massive pain for commuters when it happens.
Law will apply to anyone bringing batteries into NSW – Sharpe
Taking questions, Penny Sharpe said the legislation would apply to anyone supplying batteries into NSW, “regardless of where they come from”.
What this scheme will allow us to do, for the first time, is to have a line of sight on what’s coming in, whether they’re following the rules that are there, and we will have the ability to actually call them out for that.
She said the NSW government was working with the federal government in terms of importing.
But as a result of this scheme, this will be the first time that we’re able to understand the amount that’s coming in and be able to regulate that and to be able to force compliance on suppliers who currently have no requirements.
Sharpe optimistic NSW disposal of lithium batteries bill will pass
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has been holding a press conference in Kingscliff, announcing the return of the Seas The Day surf festival.
The state’s energy minister, Penny Sharpe, has also been speaking about the product lifecycle responsibility bill introduced to parliament.
As we flagged earlier, the law would regulate the handling and disposal of lithium batteries used in electric scooters and bikes. Sharpe said:
We’re very optimistic that the bill will pass next week, but we need to take action. We cannot ignore it any more. We need batteries out of bins, out of trucks and out of waste facilities …
We don’t believe that this is onerous, but we do believe that it’s necessary to make sure that we can safely deal with these products that are incredibly important to decarbonisation, but also just to everyone’s life, because they love these products that have got batteries in them. But we have to make sure they’re safe.
Police investigating alleged theft of beloved disability support horse Rosie
Victorian police are investigating the alleged theft of a beloved disability-support horse from Axedale this week.
Rosie has helped more than 100 children with disabilities as a therapy horse over the past two years, police said in a statement. She is valued at $40,000, “but means even more to the young children who ride her”.
Investigators were told the horse was allegedly stolen from a property on Canny Road between 8pm on Monday and 8am on Tuesday.
Investigators are hoping someone has CCTV or dashcam footage of a vehicle towing a horse trailer in Axedale, Heathcote, Strathfieldsaye or Bendigo between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Leading Sen Const Dan O’Bree said officers were extremely motivated to return this horse:
This is a case that’s caused a lot of pain to a number of vulnerable young children. Rosie means an awful lot to these kids and we want nothing more than to see her returned unharmed.
Someone out there will have seen something, or know something, and it’s important that they come forward.
Adeshola Ore
Victoria police say repeat child offenders ‘key reason’ for rise in crime
Victoria police say repeat child offenders are a “key reason” for the state’s increase in crime, in response to a release of the state’s crime statistics this morning.
Data released by the Crime Statistics Agency for 2024 shows the state’s number of recorded criminal offences increased by more than 13%.
There has been a focus on youth offenders in the state amid the debate about crime, with some saying there is a “youth crime crisis” in the state.
Victoria police says the number of child offenders decreased by 3% while the number of repeat offenders increased by 4.9%.
In simple terms, there are less children committing crime, but those who continue to offend are doing so more frequently.
Crime in Victoria up by more than 13% last year, data shows
Adeshola Ore
Victoria’s number of recorded criminal offences increased by more than 13% in 2024, amid a proposed bail crackdown by the state government.
According to the newly released data by the Crime Statistics Agency, recorded offences in the state increased by 13.2% to 8,691.6 per 100,000 Victorians in 2024.
The report found victimisation increased by 16.8% while the number of person-related victim reports increased by almost 20%, primarily driven by theft.
The CSA chief statistician, Fiona Dowsley, said the rate of theft offences being recorded per 100,000 Victorians has exceeded historical peaks and is driven by record-high numbers of motor vehicle and retail store thefts:
These increasingly prevalent theft offences can be opportunistic in nature and may be linked to cost-of-living pressures, especially for increases in shoplifting, where increases are linked to adult offenders often in their 30s.
The Allan government this week introduced a bail crackdown in response to the state’s rising crime rate, which has sparked a fierce rebuke from human rights and Indigenous groups.
Emergency warning for Halifax as major flooding likely
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of major flooding in the north-east Queensland town of Halifax this morning.
The Herbert River at Halifax was at 4.66 metres and rising earlier this morning, above the moderate level. It is expected to exceed the major flood level of 5 metres and potentially peak at 5.5 metres at midday.
An emergency warning has been issued, with communities in the lower Herbert area of the Hinchinbrook shire advised to take shelter now.
Evacuation routes may be cut off by flooding. If your life is in danger, call triple zero immediately. Emergency services may not be able get to you because it is too dangerous.
A “prepare now” warning remains in place for low-lying and flood-prone areas of Townsville, and a “stay informed” warning issued for Giru and surrounding communities.
Steggall launches climate resilience plan
The independent Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, will today launch her climate resilience plan – aimed at protecting households, communities, businesses and the economy from escalating climate risks.
The plan includes $10bn for a new Climate Resilience Fund, to be managed by the Future Fund. A statement said this would deliver climate resilience infrastructure projects, funded by the phasing out of the fuel tax credit for all industries, except agriculture businesses.
The statement said independent modelling from the Parliamentary Budget Office shows this would result in an increase to the underlying cash balance by about $1.5bn over the 2024-25 budget forward estimates period.
The teal MP’s plan would also include $40m to expand the work of the Resilient Building Council, and legislate independent national climate risk assessments and adaptation plans every five years.
Updating the national construction code to adopt resilience standards is also part of the plan, as well as coordinating all levels of government to create stronger land planning controls.
Steggall said in a statement that with the federal budget days away, “it’s time for the government to start prioritising long-term investments in climate risk”.
Budgets are about priorities, and with estimates that Cyclone Alfred cost the economy $1bn a day, it’s astonishing neither of the major parties has a credible economic plan or cohesive policy to invest in resilience to protect our communities and our economy from this growing climate risk.
Sofronoff to challenge serious corrupt conduct finding
Walter Sofronoff will launch a legal challenge against yesterday’s finding of serious corrupt conduct by the ACT integrity commission.
As Sarah Basford Canales reports, the former Queensland judge was found to have engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”, after the ACT Integrity Commission reviewed his inquiry into the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.
You can read the full details on this below:
Glen Cranny, Sofronoff’s solicitor, said in a statement this morning:
Mr Sofronoff has today filed an application in the federal court of Australia challenging the lawfulness of the Integrity Commission’s report.
Coalition to match Labor’s PBS pledge
The Coalition has confirmed it would match Labor’s pledge to reduce the price of PBS-listed medicines to no more than $25 a script.
A statement from the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, said this would “ensure Australians have more affordable access to the medicines and treatments they need, at a time when healthcare has never been more expensive”.
More families are being forced to delay or avoid refilling their scripts or seeking health advice because they just cannot afford it under Labor.
Eight per cent of Australians delayed or went without their prescription medication in 2023-24 due to cost concerns. It has never been more important to ensure Australians have affordable access to essential medicines and treatments.
Australia wants both Israel and Hamas to adhere to ceasefire – Butler
The health minister, Mark Butler, was also on ABC News Breakfast this morning, where he was asked about the unfolding situation in Gaza.
Specifically, what concerns does the government hold for the safety of Australian medics in Gaza? Has there been any contact with them, and has Australia sent a strong enough message to Israel about the danger of this latest bombardment on civilians, aid workers and hostages?
Butler said all of this was being undertaken by the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and “other global-facing ministers”.
She’s working day and night on this issue and others that impact Australia from around the world. But we’ve made it very clear – we want to see this ceasefire put back in place. We want to see both parties adhere to the ceasefire, and that includes, frankly, Hamas releasing hostages that have now been kept for almost 18 months.
Seeing this conflict flare up again is a cause of great distress to Australians. We just urge both parties to adhere to the terms of the ceasefire that were put in place previously.
NSW government aims to regulate lithium battery handling and disposal
The handling and disposal of lithium batteries used in electric scooters and bikes, which can cause fires, will be regulated in a nation-first initiative.
As AAP reports, the NSW government has introduced the product lifecycle responsibility bill to parliament. If passed, the law will create a framework for suppliers of batteries and other products to participate in mandatory stewardship schemes.
This means that those who make and sell the products will have to follow requirements on design and manufacturing, reuse and recycling, and safe disposal. The first products to be regulated under the law will be batteries.
There are between 10,000 and 12,000 fires each year in trucks and at waste facilities caused by the improper disposal, use and poor design of lithium batteries, according to waste and recycling industry estimates.
Fire and Rescue NSW has dealt with 384 lithium-ion battery incidents since 2024 alone. Those incidents included at least 33 injuries and multiple fatalities.
Under the planned laws, suppliers will have to register battery products and facilitate safe disposal or recycling through dedicated collection points. They will be charged with running public education campaigns to improve awareness of battery risks and disposal.
The laws and regulations will apply to smaller embedded batteries found in everyday devices, such as cordless vacuums, electric toothbrushes, children’s toys, e-bikes and e-scooters.
Watt: ‘no doubt’ increased government spending influenced jobs market
The employment minister, Murray Watt, was on ABC RN just earlier ahead of the latest employment figures being released today.
Watt expects them to be “roughly the same as what we’ve seen in the last couple of months”.
We want to make sure that the unemployment remains in that historically low range that we’ve seen over the last couple of years … We’d certainly be hopeful today of seeing some further jobs growth and keeping that unemployment rate low.
He was asked to what extent government spending is making the unemployment rate look better than it otherwise would be.
Watt said there is “no doubt” increased government funding has influenced the labour market, and continued:
I don’t think that anyone would be arguing that we need fewer aged care workers or fewer early childhood educators. So of course, the government funding that we provide in those sectors, [and] disability care, has been important for job creation. But if you have a close look at the figures, four out of five of the new jobs that have been created since we came to office have actually been in the private sector.
Malaysia agrees terms for restarting MH370 wreckage search
Malaysia has agreed to terms and conditions of an agreement with exploration firm Ocean Infinity to resume the search for the wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, its transport minister has said.
As Reuters reports, the flight was carrying 239 people – including six Australians – when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in 2014 in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.
The decision will enable the start of seabed search operations in a new location estimated to cover 15,000 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean, based on a “no find, no fee” principle, minister Loke Siew Fook said.
Ocean Infinity will receive $70m if the wreckage is successfully located, he said.
The government is committed to continuing the search operation and providing closure for the families of the MH370 passengers.
It was not immediately clear how long the search contract with Ocean Infinity would be. Loke had previously said it would cover an 18-month period.
Sharma says Coalition will not take Dutton’s referendum idea to the election
Dave Sharma was also asked about Peter Dutton’s idea for a referendum to give ministers the power to deport dual citizens who have committed serious crimes. Would he support this?
The senator said “that’s not Coalition policy”.
And I wouldn’t – I’m not advocating for that at the moment. I think this came up from the news report that was in the Fairfax [Nine] media two days ago. I think Peter Dutton and the leadership team have been clear – this is not a policy we’re [advancing]. We’re not ruling it out indefinitely but [it’s] not something we’ll take to the election.
Is it something you discussed in the party room? Sharma said he wouldn’t reveal what is discussed in the party room, but reiterated that it’s “not something we’re planning to take to the election and not an idea we’re seeking to advance in the context of this election campaign”.
Here is what Dutton said of the idea, at his most recent press conference yesterday afternoon:
I want a mandate from the Australian people to be able to implement the laws which are necessary to keep us safe. The prime minister dismisses it as a thought bubble.
And here is the full timeline, as written by Josh Butler, of the Coalition’s rhetoric around this “thought bubble”, as the prime minister has labelled it:
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